with excellent bridges, without a single ferry. The same Report alleges, that the Glasgow and Carlisle Road was so nearly impassable in 1815, as to oblige the Post-Office to threaten to withdraw the mail. In the single county of Aberdeen, it is calculated by the author already alluded to, that half a million sterling had been expended on roads, since 1797 to the period at which he wrote.

The fisheries have proportionably thriven, and have been established where they were before unknown on the northern coasts of Scotland. Enterprising individuals have pursued the early rich herrings of the deep along the coasts of Sutherlandshire, and obtained at Hamburgh, the premium on the first caught and prepared awarded by that city. Whilst on the western coast of Caithness, the town of Pulteney has been added to that of Wick, founded, as it was said of Amsterdam by a Dutch historian, on the bones of herrings: and many thousands of men and women are annually employed, where a few straggling fishermen previously earned a precarious subsistence.

The cultivation of kelp enriched, as its failure has injured or ruined, many of the maritime proprietors. It may be questioned whether the discouragement to agriculture and the fisheries occasioned by the ample but uncertain profits arising from the manufacture of this weed, may not have counterbalanced the partial wealth which it yielded. The progress of manufactures in the large western towns has much contributed to national prosperity.

Education, formerly confined chiefly to the Lowlands and central Highlands, has been extended by the Gaelic School Society, and the schools formed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, to the Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland. Whilst the parliamentary grant for the erection of churches in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, has poured back on many a benighted district that light which, according to history, originally emanated from the sanctuaries of Iona and Oransay.

To the full developement of the resources of Scotland, the discovery of steam has supplied a main stimulant. To its gigantic power, the physical obstacles to communication and intercourse have in a great measure yielded: and it is not possible to foresee the economical and social changes which may yet result from its introduction in that country. Without anticipating the realization of the picturesque or poetical fictions of Miss Martineau or Mr. Macaulay; without unroosting the gulls of Garveloch, and peopling its lonely rocks with amorous swains, with geese, and even with swine, or imagining the rise of a new Liverpool in the Hebrides, we may hazard the assertion that the improvement of Scotland may yet be long in progress. To observe its stages, is both interesting and instructive.

SCOTTISH TOURISTS.

To trace the progress of discovery in Scotland is no matter of antiquarian research. In 1688, Sacheverel, Governor of the Isle of Man, was sent to the Hebrides, narrowly escaping shipwreck on his voyage, for the purpose, not of exploring the wonders with which terror and superstition had invested these islands, but of superintending the operations of the divers employed to fish for the treasures which, it was thought, were contained in a sunken vessel erroneously supposed to have belonged to the Spanish Armada. He possessed taste, and described with graphic skill the scenery in the neighbourhood of the harbour where his errand conducted him; and, unfortunately, little else. There is an old description of the Hebrides by Munro, Dean of the Isles, known to us chiefly by the quotations of Sir Walter Scott. The social condition of those Islands, at the commencement of the last century, and St. Kilda, Martin depicted in 1716. Whilst that of the Northern Highlands in the interval between the two rebellions, was much more minutely detailed by an English Officer, stationed at the garrison of Fort St. George, in a work entitled, Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland to his Friend in London, afterwards edited by Jamieson: the grand magazine from which Sir Walter Scott, General Stuart of Garth, and other writers, have derived their knowledge of the habits and manners of the inhabitants of these regions, at the period in question.

The natural phenomena of the country did not attract his attention, unless we except an unsuccessful attempt made by himself and some of his brother officers, to ascend Ben Nevis; from which they retreated in discomfiture and consternation. Of the scenery of Scotland, at least of that of its coasts and islands, little or nothing was known till the accidental discovery of Staffa, by Sir Joseph Banks, in the course of his circumnavigation of the globe, to which publicity was given by Pennant, in his account of the memorable tours which he performed in 1769 and 1772, visiting a large portion of Scotland and many of the Western Isles. Johnson, in the following year traced and described the remnants of the old patriarchal system, the influence of which yet survived the forfeited authority of the chiefs: and his genius invested with a halo of glory the mists which had gathered around the tombs and temples of Iona.

Scotland now became an object of interest; and no portion of the globe, perhaps, has more employed the pen of tourists. Dr. Clarke visited St. Kilda; and it is gratifying to recollect, that his adventurous wing first tried its strength among our own islands. The exclusion of our travellers from a large part of the continent during the late war,

arrangement, the substance of much information, collected from such sources, has been lately published by Chambers; and a statistical work, founded on the plan of that already alluded to, is in progress, and if ably conducted, will prove the most invaluable repository of our stock of knowledge. But very few readers can find leisure or opportunity for such reading; and still fewer, obtain it at the cost of time, fatigue, and occasional peril, to which Scotch touring is liable.

The author of the following Sketches, therefore, commits the following extracts from his Journal of his Tours in Scotland and the Isle of Man, in the years 1827 and 1829, to the pages of the Saturday Magazine, in the belief that the information which he collected, and for the accuracy of which he holds himself responsible, except where he quotes from other tourists, may not be unacceptable to its readers. The want of romantic and more stirring interest, which adventures in remote regions usually excite, may be comDensated for, by the gratification which the consciousness of possession affords to us whilst contemplating the treasures, or exploring the resources of our own country.

One serious impediment to travelling in Scotland has been removed by the publication of the large and accurate map of Arrowsmith, which unfortunately, however, does not include the Isles of Orkney and Shetland, and the general improvement of maps of more portable dimensions. Our ancestors knew as little of the geography of Scotland as they did of its scenery. Dr. Johnson, whilst severely censuring Boëthius, a Scotch writer of the sixteenth century, for his error in extending Loch Ness to six times its real breadth, describes Mull as an island not broken by waters, nor shot into promontories, but as a solid, compact mass, of breadth nearly equal to its length. Whereas the real shape of this large island resembles that of a wasp, so de ply indented is it by arms of the sea, which nearly meet in its centre. He justly adds, that of the dimensions of the larger islands there was then no knowledge approaching to exactness.

An error of geography is speedily discovered by a pedestrian, and often by painful experience: the transposition of a place to the distance of six miles, perhaps, occasioning an extra day or night walk over high mountains and deep morasses. And by a pedestrian alone can Scotland be explored. The traveller's vocation in that country is amphibious: he must be unencumbered by carriage, horse, or vessel of his own; but depend on the opportunities of proceeding which he may chance to meet with, doubtless much facilitated by the hospitality and friendliness of the people, and command leisure and patience sufficient to submit to the fatigue and privations to which he is occasionally exposed by the vexatious despotism of the elements. So free in his power of locomotion, and so fortified in spirit, he may enjoy a gratification to which the tourist who rolls along the beaten track of continental travellers, transferred by the tyranny of his courier from the safe custody of one set of waiters and cicerones to another, is utterly unacquainted. world before him, and Providence for his guide," the pedestrian is at liberty to shape his course wherever curiosity may invite, or the spirit of enterprise may direct. CLYDE, TARBERT, HERRING FISHERY, INVERARY, LOCH AWE, DUNOLLY, SOUND OF MULL, TOBERMORY.

"The

THE author of the following sketches, with such intentions, quitted Glasgow in a steam-vessel, in company with some friends, on the 19th July, 1827. The channel of the Clyde, for several miles below Glasgow, is narrow, and of little depth; but the want of water has been gradually remedied by the indefatigable efforts of the dredging-machine, which, by deepening the channel, facilitates the approach of larger vessels to Glasgow, which formerly received or discharged their cargoes at Greenock or Port Glasgow. Hence this instrument is significantly designated the "Terror of Greenock," or "Greenock's Lament." The vessels are towed up the river by steam, which originally rendered the operation of the dredging-machine important. The narrow branch of the outlet of the Clyde, called the Kyle of Bute, offers no scenery worthy of notice; but opens nobly on the majestic heights of Arran. Crossing the entrance of Loch Fine, we entered the romantic little harbour of East Loch Tarbert, the head-quarters of the celebrated herring-fishery. The rude out-work of its rocks apparently barring access; the overhanging keep of its ruined castle; the village, and he innumerable fishing-boats choking up every nook and

crevice, form a scene singularly picturesque, the effect of which is heightened by the method in which the fishermen hang their nets. A pole traverses the foremast, to each extremity of which is fastened another, extending to the length of several feet beyond the stem of the boat, supported by upright props. On these, as well as on the rocks and islets, the nets are suspended in elegant festoons, covering the whole with sable drapery.

The transit to the Eastern Loch Tarbert, in which another steam-vessel awaited us, is about a mile distant. The scenery of that deep inlet is beautiful. Its soft outlines and wooded shores, compared with the rugged features of the Eastern Loch, exhibit the contrast of a painting by Claude to one by Salvator Rosa. The temporary closing of the Crinan Canal occasioned the resumption of this old mode of communication with the Hebrides. The project for insulating a large part of Argyleshire, and at once conveying the navigation of the Clyde in a direct line to the Hebrides, which has been accomplished by the completion of the Crinan Canal, was deemed hazardous, and even visionary. As a pecuniary speculation, it may have little success; but its effects as a channel of intercourse, combined with those of steam, have been as beneficial as they have been remarkable. The island lairds, who spent sometimes weeks in navigating to and from their remote habitations, or in attempting to cross the numerous ferries which obstructed their land journeys, now enjoy speedy intercourse with Glasgow, Edinburgh, and the South. Whilst vessels employed in trade and the fisheries avoid the circuitous and perilous circumnavigation of the Mull of Cantyre. It was the ancient practice to drag vessels of small size across the isthmus, Tarbert signifying a land-passage for boats; which has been described by Walter Scott as having been adopted by Robert Bruce himself.

It was a wondrous sight to see
Topmast and pennon glitter free,
High raised above the green-wood tree,
As on dry land the galley moves,
By cliffs, and copse, and alder-groves.

Lord of the Isles.

And since the recent closing of the Crinan Canal'it has been resumed by the fishermen of Barra, and other islands, who rather than trust their commissions to strangers, persevere in a custom now gradually growing into disuse, of carrying the fish which they catch to the Clyde markets, and purchasing the little luxuries and articles of dress which their slender profits command. A rail-road crossing the isthmus, which has been projected, would greatly facilitate the transit of goods.

The violence of the conflicting currents on the western coast of Argyleshire, no less than the defective outfit of the steam-vessels on their first establishment, rendered this mode of navigation at first uncertain.

At midnight the paddle of our vessel was broken by the sea, and at nine next morning we found ourselves once more at Tarbert. But a day may be very agreeably passed at this interesting little port, which contains a respectable inn, and a few comfortable lodging-houses for the use of the salt-water people, as persons who visit the coast for seabathing are usually called in these parts. A long row of low huts on the shore attracted our notice: the interior of one was remarkably neat and clean, belying the squalidness of its exterior. It proved to be one of the Society's schools; or schools maintained by the joint contributions of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge established at Edinburgh, which pays the salary of the schoolmaster, amounting to £25; of the heritor or landed proprietor, on whose estate the school is formed, who furnishes the house and garden; and of the scholars themselves, who pay certain fees. In this little seminary two boys formed a Latin class, construing Cæsar and Sallust with facility: and two, one of whom was the son of an exciseman, and the other of a farmer, both destined for the church, were studying Greek.

To this parochial tuition, often extremely scanty, the Scottish youths, not within the reach of grammar-schools, are frequently indebted for the whole stock of classical knowledge which they carry to the Universities.

Having, in frequent subsequent visits to Tarbert, directed my attention to the herring-fishery, I shall introduce here a brief account of the habits of the people employed in it. The fishermen of Tarbert and the neighbourhood do not confine their operations to Loch Fine, but extend them along the western coast, even as far as Lewis. They do not carry their fish to market, but adopt the more profitable

and expeditious method of selling them to vessels, in which they are cured and conveyed to various parts. They are also barrelled both at Tarbert and Inverary. The outfit of a boat is expensive; the cost of it, including rigging, varies from 30l. to 50%., and upwards, and may be estimated, on the average, at 401.: and the price of a set of nets is 304, or 57. to a piece or barrel, of which six form a net. The usual length of the boat is twenty feet; it is built at Tarbert, Greenock, or Rothsay. It is furnished with three masts, a mainsail, a foresail, and a jib: and part of the bow of the boat is covered by boarding or an awning, in which bedding is placed. Where the awning occurs, it is occasionally removed, and instead of the bedding a pan of coals is placed, on which the fisherman cooks his provisions when in harbour, or at sea, when the weather permits. Each boat is usually furnished with three men, one of whom is the master, who defrays the whole cost, and receives a double share of the profits of the fishery. He is also exempted by law from impressment. The proprietors of boats subscribe so much by the week to a fund, a species of insurance, out of which they are indemnified for the loss of their nets. The measure used is called a maize, containing 500 herrings: the greatest number I have heard being taken at one time was forty-one maize, the maize then selling at 10s.

The nets are cast at sun-set, and always on the right side of the boat, in conformity to the supposed injunction of our Saviour to St. Peter. The time of sailing is also governed by many superstitious notions, but a cloudy evening is the best omen. Immediately afterwards, if the weather permit, the fishermen light their fire and cook their supper, consisting of fish, potatoes, oat-cake, molasses, or porridge. But on stormy nights they fast, being unable to cook their provisions, relieving their fatigue by whisky; and on their return in the morning, invariably receive two drams each from the purchaser of their fish. Cold and hungry, they are often affected by the spirits, and sustain the habitual excitement by repairing to the public-house; thus acquiring habits of intoxication. There are no less than twenty public-houses in Tarbert, which must be partly attributed to its being a great thoroughfare. The superintendent of the distillery of West Tarbert informed me that the fishermen carried out whisky to sea, observing emphatically," Sir, the Tarbert man must have his dram, let the world sink or swim."

On the whole, however, though, occasionally, drunkenness may be seen, accompanied with riotous conduct, which must be laid partly to the charge of strangers, the clergy have succeeded in counteracting, in a great measure, the natural tendency of the habits of the fishermen; and the excellent and ancient practice of prayer is not uncommon. After supper, the fishermen not unfrequently kneel down to prayer, and sing a hymn, and when at home adopt the same rule. Martin mentions that this was the invariable practice of the rude fishermen of St. Kilda. The fishermen of Inverary said that reading was general among them, and that most of them possessed Bibles. Of their respect for the Sabbath-day a proof occurred some time ago: they sted fastly refused to carry the baggage of a laird, residing in a neighbouring island, across the isthmus on that day. The natives of Tarbert always return to their.cottages; the strangers live in their boats, cook their provisions, and sometimes celebrate their domestic worship on board. The harbours and coves are so numerous, that boats are rarely lost. I was informed that any disputes arising among the fishermen were adjusted by arbitration, three seniors of the port performing this duty; an excellent practice, similar to that which prevails in some instances among the miners of Cornwall, who, though enjoying the jurisdiction of their own independent courts, the Stannary, still are so satisfied with the more amicable mode of adjusting their differences, that, as a respectable captain of one of the largest mines stated to me, an appeal to law was scarcely ever known. The period for commencing and terminating the fishery was formerly prescribed by Act of Parliament.

The huts inhabited by the fishermen at Tarbert and the neighbourhood are usually very poor. The few tenants of West Tarbert depend on the transit of goods for subsistence. The residence of mechanics in villages is always beneficial, as setting the example of building and fitting up houses in better style, independently of other advantages.

On one occasion, I found the harbour of East Tarbert in a state of much excitement, and found that a wedding was expected. The people were all standing at their doors with smiling countenances, and a perpetual discharge of

muskets and fowling-pieces from different parts of the harbour greeted the ear. Soon, a procession, preceded by a bagpipe, descended the hill, and some of their train returned from their pieces the saiute of their fellow-townsmen. A young fisherman was the bridegroom, and the whole party moved to the church, where the minister delivered a prayer and exhortation in Gaelic. The friend of the bridegroom took off his glove, and a young girl performed the same office for the bride, and the ceremony concluded with their clasping their hands together. There was an immediate adjournment to the public-house, which became the scene of much festivity.

In the evening, we ascended Loch Fine to Inverary; the surface of its waters gradually becoming sprinkled over with the many twinkling boats of the herring-fishers, and spent the next morning in viewing the castle, and climbing the hill of Duniquaigh. Inverary, the county-town of Argyleshire, has a court-house and a gaol. The broad basin of Loch Fine; the surrounding plain, adorned by the Duke's castle and park, and the stately avenues of trees stretching several miles along the coast to southward, and the town, the sloping uplands extending from the bank of a river to a double semicircular ridge, terminating on the north side of the park in Duniquaigh, a pine-clad hill of peculiarly Alpine character, form a scene rarely surpassed, especially when illuminated by a morning sun. Its general effect is perhaps somewhat theatrical; and the castle, a modern square edifice, with round towers at its angles, the central and prominent object, looks diminutive in proportion to the natural features of the landscape. But gigantic scenery reduces the utmost efforts of puny man to comparative insignificance. It was begun by Archibald, duke of Argyle, in 1745, and consequently wants that antiquity which might be sought in the residence of an illustrious family, who first settled here in the 14th century, and whose former abode, a castle on the shore, was destroyed only sixty years ago.

It is strange that hitherto the land-communication, even in one of the most opulent counties of Scotland, and pos sessing several small towns, should be so imperfect. The only regular mode of conveyance from Glasgow to Oban, the port of embarkation for the Western Isles, or, as it has been called, the Charing Cross of the Hebrides, was at this time (1827,) a stage-coach, lately established, drawn by two miserable cattle. The inn afforded a post-chaise; but no horses; and two common carts were the only resource.

A fine prospect, which is called Burke's view, as having been praised by the author of the Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful, opens on the view when Loch Awe first appears, divided into two branches by the lofty pile of Ben Cruachan. At the pleasant little inn of Dalmally, we passed Sunday, and observed the ancient practice of the Scotch kirk, of catechizing the children in the church in the afternoon. The boys exhibited more of the Highland garb than can be seen in the remoter parts of Scotland, where it is nearly disused. As they assembled in the church-yard, wearing the tartan petticoat, without shoes or stockings, they formed a very picturesque group.

The castle of Kilchurn, on the shore of Loch Awe, is one of the finest of these remains of antiquity in Scotland; which are in general as far inferior in dimensions and picturesque appearance to those of England Wales, as they are often superior in the grandeur of their position. It was built in 1440, by Sir Colin Campbell, Knight of Rhodes, ancestor of the Breadalbane family. The road winds along the side of Ben Cruachan, which derives a crater-like appearance from the semicircular shape of its huge bare buttresses, through the pass of Awe, the celebrity of which arises less from its scenery than from the defeat which Lord John of Lorn sustained here from the skill and courage of Bruce, to which the downfall of the conquered family may

be traced.

As we issued from this ravine upon an extensive and dreary waste, our attention was attracted by a solitary moving black spot on the huge sloping side of Cruachan, which, gradually approaching, proved to be a numerous company of horsemen, following to a neighbouring cemetery the remains of the wife of the tacksman, whose sheep clad the vast pastures of the mountain, and whose beautifully-situated mansion, embosomed in trees, overlooked the foaming Awe. The solemnity of the funeral procession is never more impressive, than when contrasted with the beauty or majesty of undying Nature. On the roadside, the workmen of Bunawe have erected on an eminence an immense stone to the memory of Nelson, which may be hereafter taken for a cairn,

Passing Dunstaffnage, from whence was removed the stone on which the ancient Scottish monarchs were crowned, now preserved in Westminster Abbey, we entered Oban. Its bay, the entrance of which is guarded by islands, the neat white houses of the town, rocks, woods, the solitary tower of Dunolly, and the distant heights of Mull and Morvern, offer a delightful view; and from the Castle of Dunolly, the eye may wander southward through the picturesque group of the Southern Hebrides, over which towers Ben-More in Mull, to the height of 3000 feet. The house of Dunolly is screened from view by trees: this is occupied by Macdougal of Lorn, the representative of an ancient family, who inhabited the adjacent castle, tracing their descent from a son of Somerlid, Lord of the Isles, slain in 1164. The Lord of Lorn, who was defeated by Bruce in the pass of Awe, married a daughter of John the Red Comyn. The genealogy of the family is given by Sir Walter Scott, in a note to the Lord of the Isles.

We proceeded to Tobermory by steam. Notwithstanding the occasional interruption, occasioned by damage of machinery, and weather, the steam-vessels usually combine their movements with extraordinary precision: four of them, two from Glasgow, one from Inverness, and another from Tobermory, arriving by concert at the same hour.

The entrance to the Sound of Mull is commanded on one side by Castle Duart, and on the other by that of Artornish. The former, nobly situated, was of old the seat of the chief of the Macleans. Rumour ascribes its preservation to the publication of the Lord of the Isles. The existence of many of the antiquities of Scotland, nay, of the Scandinavian and other regions of Europe, must be attributed in no small degree to the taste excited and revived by their great northern champion. When Sacheverel passed this castle, in 1680, his vessel exchanged with it a salute of guns.

"The opposite castle of Artornish was in former days a place of great consequence, being one of the principal strong-holds which the Lords of the Isles, during the period of their stormy independence, possessed upon the main land of Argyleshire. Here they assembled what popular tradition calls their parliament, meaning, I suppose, their cour plenière, or assembly of feudal and patriarchal vassals and dependants. From this castle of Artornish (1461), John De Yle, designating himself Earl of Ross, Lord of the Isles, granted, in the style of an independent sovereign, a commission to certain deputies, to enter into a conference with others appointed by King Edward the Fourth of England, which terminated in a treaty; by which the Lord of the Isles agreed to become a vassal to the crown of

England, and to assist Edward the Fourth, and James Earl of Douglas, then in banishment, in subduing the realm of Scotland."-Note to the Lord of the Isles.

The title of the Lord of the Isles became extinct in 1536, Macdonald, who held it, dying without an heir.

The once-wooded Morvern of Ossian is now stripped of its forests, and its bare sides are diversified only by the insulated mansions of a few lairds, which, as well as the manses of the Highland clergy, often resemble in their loneliness the "lodge in the garden of cucumbers," as exactly as the fortified seats of their ancestors bring to mind the accompanying figurative allusion of a "besieged city." Morvern, till within a few years, formed part of the vast property of the Duke of Argyll, which had been augmented materially by the grants of estates forfeited by Macdonald and Maclean to his ancestors, and have been in part sold, and in some instances, as in the case of Maclean of Coll, to the descendants of the original proprietors. Morvern, which, at the period of the survey, was possessed by the Duke and three other heritors, all non-residents, is now inhabited by twenty resident proprietors, most of whom were originally the Duke's tenants. Such changes of property are perpetually occurring in Scotland; and are, doubtless, advantageous, if not pushed to the extent of impairing too much the aristocracy of the country, and of diminishing an order of men, whose wealth, authority, influence, education, intercourse with the general body of landed proprietors of the kingdom, and opportunities of ascertaining and applying the various plans of improvement communicated to the public, supply them with the means, if properly employed, of imparting economical and moral benefits to a country, on a scale unattainable by men of inferior degree, of more limited knowledge, and conse quently usually too firmly riveted to the practices of their forefathers. Of the benefits resulting from capital and influence, directed to the encouragement of agriculture and fisheries, and the developement of the various resources of a country, the late Duke of Argyle was a bright example. Tobermory was built in 1788, by the British Fishing Company, at the same time with Ullapool and Tanera, as the site of a fishing-establishment, and the rendezvous of the herring-vessels. Although the different undertakings of these spirited capitalists failed, and their structures were here, as elsewhere, left to decay, and a manufactory afterwards established here, proved equally unsuccessful, the capacity of its harbour, the convenience of its situation, and the increased traffic of the coasts and islands, render Tobermory an important and a prosperous village.

P. S. Q. R.